Archives

In late June, I visited Atlanta, participating in a forum on Atlanta’s Parks hosted by Park Pride as well as several meetings organized by the Trust for Public Land’s Georgia office. Sadly, it was raining much of one of the two days that I was there, but I still managed to get out and see a number of Atlanta’s parks.

Charlie presenting at the Park Pride forum. Yes, there were lots of charts, tables and maps. 😉

Mural along the Beltline

Amazing Sculpture/Swings at Piedmont Park

Sprayground at Historic Fourth Ward Park (it was raining, so not many people out there….)

While Atlanta is ranked 50th in ParkScore, it continues to add parkland and build out a number of parks, including the Atlanta Beltline, and the forthcoming Cook Park, which is a current Trust for Public Land project, which recently held a groundbreaking. I managed to explore a portion of the Beltline (between early evening downpours) as well as Piedmont Park, some of the Olmsted Brothers developed neighborhoors as well as Historic Fourth Ward Park.

The following is an excerpt from City Parks, Clean Water, a report by the Trust for Public Land’s Center for City Park Excellence that examines the role of urban parks in managing stormwater. This is the eighth installment in a series of 19 posts.

When it comes to green infrastructure, the easiest parks to work with are new ones — facilities that don’t yet exist and can be specifically designed with stormwater management in mind. Every park is different, from size to geography to the surrounding culture and politics, but when it comes to water-smart parks there are three main issues to be considered:

Is the physical relationship of the park to the surrounding community such that a redesign could reduce neighborhood flooding or the pollution of downstream waterways?

Does the park have any available space for water flow and storage?

Is the composition of the existing soils, water table and underlying rock such that the park can absorb a significant amount of water in the necessary amount of time?